Page 128 - Chinese porcelains collected by Mr. and Mrs. Charles P. Taft, Cincinnati, Ohio, by John Getz

A CATALOGUE OF

Other greens, of iridescent quality, were also invented under Ts'ang
Ying-hsiian, and called '* snake-skin " color and " cucumber-green." Other
varieties of green-tinted glazes have been produced at other periods, but
none so distinguished as the "apple-green," with its strongly marked

crackle.

CELADON

The celadon color, on the other hand, is the oldest of all the green glazes

extant, and is referred to in the earliest periods of ceramic art, especially

predominating in the T'ang dynasty and, later, during the Sungs. Made

in different factories, it also varies in tints and qualities.

The oldest, perhaps, existing to-day is the product known as "Chiin-
chou-yao" and "Ko-yao" of the Sung dynasty. "Jii-yao," or *' Kuan-
yao," is the oldest celadon known in history, but it is doubtful if any speci-
mensexistnow. " Lung-ch'uan-yao," another celadon, was shipped largely
to India and Persia, where it is known as "Martabani."

Celadon was first knowm in Europe during the seventeenth century, and

there it received its name. Vide Glossary.

CRACKLE WARE

The "cafe-au-lait" crackle porcelain is among the oldest of the so-called

single-colored pieces. Crackled vases were called " Tsui-khi-yao " under
the southem Sungs' dynasty, and are described in the history of King-te-

chen, where we learn that the clay employed was coarse and compact,
and that "the vases were thick and heavy." Some types are termed by

the Chinese "Mi-se" (the color of yellow millet seed).
It was recorded by Pere d'Entrecolles that at these factories (King-te-

chen) they used " Hoa-chi" (steatite) powder, and mixed it with the glaze,
from which the vases would exhibit cracks running in every direction, as
though broken into thousands of pieces. They were occasionally rubbed
over with colored inks, red or black; then was seen a network of charm-

ing veins (in either color), imitating the cracks of ice. D'Entrecolles also

states that a kind of glaze called "Tsoui-yeou" was used during his time

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